The Cowboy Bar on Sunset
by Ambrosia Rush
Summary: Remember when Callen said, "Hetty plus mechanical bull plus tequila equals bar fight, trust me, I've been there." Here's why.
1. The Cowboy Bar on Sunset

**EDIT: Updated version June 29/12**

**Thanks to everyone who read this story and supported it the first time around. Cheers! **

G Callen didn't want to go out, he didn't want to socialize with his team after a mission, he wanted to crash on a couch in OSP and go to sleep. Hetty though was a force of nature gave him that steely look when she said they were going out with his team and that was that.

It was how they ended up at the cowboy bar down on Sunset Boulevard. There were a few of the same themed bars, but this was the one with the mechanical bull which made the pit in Callen's stomach worse. He felt impending doom. "Come on G," Sam said with a light hearted grin. "A couple of drinks and then you can make some excuse and escape."

"I'm starting to think he doesn't like us very much," Renko ribbed at Callen with his roguish smile upon his face, hands shoved into a well worn black leather jacket.

"Callen just-" with a quick glare from Callen Nate ended his sentence differently than intended. "Has a lot of paperwork." The tall phycologists adjusted his tie nervously. Eric laughed and he and Nate got caught up in conversation as they walked down the street.

Sam opened the door and they all flooded in, country music played over the speakers, the scent of classic pub comfort foods filled the air. The tables and floor were hardwood, the mechanical bull sat in the left of the bar. They found a table with enough space and chairs and claimed it as their own. Sitting down Callen steeled his spine, just like Sam said a couple of drinks with colleagues wouldn't be that bad, and it would get both Hetty and Nate off of his back for lack of socialization. Besides, his paperwork was caught up on, and he had read three local newspapers, there was little he had to do back at OSP anyways.

There was a cute little waitress who came up to them dressed in a sheer white button down shirt; a pink bra clearly visible through the fabric, micro jean shorts, and cowboy boots and hat. "What can I get for y'all?" Her accent hinted at a Tennessee background.

"Tequila round for the table," Hetty ordered.

Sam and Renko both ordered other drinks, Callen was going to wave the girl off when he caught Nate studying him. Callen grit his teeth. "I'll also get a rum and Coke."

"Comin' right up for yall."

"Do you think she naturally says 'yall' or is that just something they tell the waitresses to say?" Renko pondered out loud.

The drinks came and Hetty insisted on a toast. "To good agents," she looked pointedly at Callen. "Who really need to get out more." Everyone but Callen laughed as they stood to clink shot glasses before tossing the shots back.

Callen made a face, it had been a long while since he'd drank, especially something straight. He let out a breath. One down. He looked at his Rum and Coke, one to go then excuse and escape.

Only, that's not what happened.

The Rum and Coke gone Callen actually laughed at a joke Eric made.

Hetty ordered a second round. Again they all hit glasses and it was bottoms up. Nate and Callen had a genuine conversation, just about the news, something they'd both read in the paper. There was no prying for information or insight, just talk.

Hetty ordered a third round, clink and downed. The group watched as Renko, who at shot three seemed to think he could get the waitress to go out with him. He couldn't.

Hetty ordered a fourth round and the entire table was singing along with a goofy country song.

It was round five and it seemed then that Hetty herself thought she could win the mechanical bull riding contest. And at round five, and with a good dose of healthy fear of Hetty, the agents, tech and psychologist put their money down on her.

It was odd for Callen seeing such a tiny woman in line with the other contestants, all male tonight and built like bricks. There was something those men didn't know though. They were going against Henrietta Lange. He figured it would be the easiest money he'd ever make.

Four contestants down and Hetty was up. The team cheered her on as she, who needed a stepping stool, got onto the mechanical bull and held onto the rope. They waited as the man took the stepping stool away and jumped down from the padded area.

He put a thumbs up at controls and Hetty put her one arm up and returned the gesture. And then the bull started rocking. The team inched forward watching, the clock counting the seconds and she was about to put the last man out when the rope on the bull snapped and she was sent flying to the mat.

Renko burst out laughing and he ribbed Eric who snorted and at least had the decency to look ashamed. Callen climbed over the little fence and put a hand out to her. "You almost had him."

Hetty pushed her hair out of her face and sat up a little dazed before taking Callen's hand. "Mr. Callen, one of those men cheated," She insisted with anger rising in her voice.

"It's just a mechanical bull riding contest Hetty," Callen said with slight patronisation entering his tone. After all, when would he get another chance? "It's nothing to get angry about, it's all for fun right?" After all of her quips about him not getting out and having fun more often it was worth his lost fifty bucks to get to throw it back at her. He pulled her up easily and exited the pen, still talking, it wasn't till he got to Sam and the rest of the team that he realized that Hetty was not with him.

He turned and looked over the crowd until he spotted the immaculately dressed woman just in time to see her hit one of the contestants with a bar stool. "Hetty!" he called out in surprise. The rest of the team turned to look.

"Holy shit!" Renko howled with laughter, staggering slightly in place, he'd drank considerably more than the rest of the team and was easily the most inebriated of the bunch. "She got him good!"

Callen looked to Sam, the men knowing each other long enough to understand the meaning behind the gaze, they nodded in a silent agreement that the bar fight needed to be broken up.

One of the men picked up a bottle and went to hit Hetty with it but she caught his wrist, waggled her finger at him and hit a pressure point in his hand. The bottle dropped to the floor and shattered. She twisted his arm and he crashed to his knees. "You cheating son of a bitch!"

Sam caught the man who was going to attack Hetty from behind and hit his head on the counter. Hindsight being twenty-twenty, it wasn't the most effective tactic to breaking up a bar fight because it caught the attention of his friends who were coming in droves.

Callen knelt beside Hetty and looked her right in the eyes. "I think it's time we left."

She looked over her shoulder and seen Sam take down two men in one swoop. "Yes, I believe you are correct Mr. Callen."

Renko came over stopping a short man from jumping on Sam's back with a fist to the stomach. Eric was video taping the entire thing trying to keep the camera from shaking despite how hard he was laughing... that is till Hetty stood a foot in front of him and held out her hand in a manner that wasn't asking so much as ordering. She took the chip out, dropped it to the floor and stomped on it.

The team didn't so much leave, as they were thrown out. Renko couldn't stop laughing, or stumbling in his intoxication. "Next week! We got to do this again next week!"

Despite himself Callen smiled. "Absolutely." Maybe Hetty and Nate were right, he did need to get out more.

"But not here," he said shooting a mischievous look at Hetty. "Mechanical bulls are bad," he gave her a smile and she smiled right back

::

"I've got it!" Kensi sat up at her desk as Callen stared intently at the little doll Dom had just placed on his desk. "The cowboy bar on Sunset!"

Callen wasn't sure it was the doll or the mention of a cowboy bar that had his stomach in knots.

"With the mechanical bull?"

"Yeah!" She said it like it was obvious.

Callen looked to Kensi. "Uh, Hetty plus mechanical bull plus tequila equals bar fight, trust me, I've been there." He hadn't wanted to go that night, but somehow it had been the night that had changed his week, and every week after, even when Renko was out on some lone assignment and the young Kensi had joined the team, and when they were assigned Dom to even out the numbers he and Sam made sure that at least once a week they went out,_ as a team_. Somehow, it had become important for Callen to do so. And he knew it was all because of a tequila fuelled night on Sunset.


	2. Return to the Cowboy Bar on Sunset

**This just had to happen ;)**

::

"I've decided," Kensi said coming into the bullpen in her gym shots and sports bra, her hair up in a ponytail and running shoes on her feet.

"Well lets hear it," Sam said leaning back in his chair.

"It's only taken you all week to decide," Callen put down his pen and closed the file he'd been working on.

"What's it going to be?" Deeks asked her with a grin upon his face.

"The cowboy bar on Sunset," Kensi responded with a beaming smile and hands on her hips.

Callen's head hit his desk and he muttered to himself for a second. "Kensi," he said clearly before lifting himself back to a fully seated position. "We've talked about this!"

"But it's my birthday!" Kensi whined. "You guys said I could pick the place. That you wouldn't argue. 'Anywhere you want, Kens,' you know who said that?" She looked pointedly at the team leader. "You," she pointed at Callen. "You did."

Callen groaned put his head in his hands. "Really?"

"Come on! Is someone going to fill me in?" Deeks asked sitting on his desk as he sipped from a mug of coffee. "Why are you all so reluctant to go to the cowboy bar? Don't like country music? The way all the waitresses say 'y'all?' The cowboy hats?" Deeks guessed before taking another blessed sip of coffee.

"Hetty plus mechanical bull plus tequila equals bar fight," Callen told him as Nell and Eric came in the room. Eric catching the end of the conversation started laughing from the memory.

"Really?" Deeks said disbelievingly. "Hetty. Bar fight?"

"Trust me," Callen said. "I've been there."

"Me too," Sam defended.

"It's true," Eric said. "I would show you the footage but... it was destroyed..."

"Why would Hetty get into a bar fight?" Nell asked incredulously.

"Because one of the contestants in the bull riding contest cheated," Renko said from right behind her and she jumped in surprise.

"Agent Renko," her hand over her heart. "You scared me!"

He smiled, just a little. "Sorry Nell."

"Are you saying Hetty, little Hetty," Deeks put his hand to his side and showed the height of the petite woman. "Participated in the bull riding contest?" Callen bit his bottom lip and could see Sam covering laughter with a cough and the other agents tried not to laugh as Hetty came to stand just under Deek's hand, he completely oblivious.

"Yes, Mr Deeks."

Deeks jumped away from her spilling coffee on his shirt in his haste. "Shoot!" He quickly put the mug down on his desk and pulled the shirt soaked in the hot liquid away from his skin. "We _really_ have to put a bell on you."

Hetty glared at the detective for a second before she turned to Kensi. "I believe I know where this conversation stemmed from."

"It's my birthday," Kensi reminded everyone. "Whoever is having the birthday gets to pick the venue. It's the rule."

Callen slowly looked over at Hetty and shrugged. The woman sighed. "Fine," she agreed.

"Are you sure Hetty?" Sam asked.

"I can handle my liquor, Mr Hanna," Hetty replied. "Mr Deeks, you'll need to change."

"And I need to shower," Kensi said still in her gym clothes.

"So in an hour, we will all meet back here," Hetty decided.

::

They had all met back in the bull pen, everyone dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts of various colours. They'd walked a few blocks before calling for cabs and getting dropped off on Sunset Boulevard. Together, the group walked down the street. "Too bad Nate's overseas," Kensi said sadly.

Eric chuckled. "He got to see the main event last time."

"Nate was there?" Kensi said sounding surprised. "This sounds like a story he would have told."

"Yeah, he was there," Eric replied and then laughed. "You know how he handles alcohol though, I doubt he remembers much."

Deeks held open the door for the birthday girl and she smiled at him. "Thank you, Deeks."

"Anytime partner," he replied watching her hips sway as she entered the room looking for a table large enough for the group.

Everyone inside, and settled the waitress came up in a black shirt, tiny shorts and cowboy boots and hat. "What can I get for y'all?" Callen bit on the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing at the woman's ridiculous obviously fake southern accent. Everyone ordered quickly and Hetty tagged on a round of tequila.

"You going to try to pick our waitress up this time?" Eric asked Renko.

The agent sent back a lazy smile. "Nope. Imagine that woman in bed. With that accent."

"Mr Renko!" Hetty scolded.

Renko laughed. "Sorry Hetty," he apologised despite not looking so apologetic. He chuckled again apparently at his own mental image.

With the drinks delivered Hetty stood and everyone grabbed the first shot of the night. "Happy birthday Kensi Blye, beautiful, deadly and a wonderful friend."

"With a fantastic ass," Renko added and Kensi shot him a playful glare.

"Here, here," Deeks said raising his glass, he and Renko being the first to clink glasses. There was a course of well wishes and the tinkling of glass colliding with glass before everyone knocked back the shot.

Everyone got chatty as Callen ordered in the second round, again there was more clinking and comments before the shots were had.

Deeks ordered the third round and everyone fell into an obnoxiously loud and slightly slurred rendition of 'Happy Birthday.'

There was laughter, conversation and three more rounds of tequila shots before the call was made for contestants to ride the bull. Kensi put her hands flat on the table and stood, her chair nearly tipping over. "I'm doing it!" she announced.

"I really don't think you should," Deeks said. "You're a little drunk."

"I'm not _that_ drunk," Kensi argued with a smile on her face. "Aaaand it's my birthday!" her hands up in the air as she made the proclamation.

Renko laughed tipping back in his chair a little. "Aaaaand Kensi's drunk!"

"Maybe you should just go on the dance floor instead," Callen suggested. "It might be safer."

Kensi rolled her eyes. "I'm so no even that little bit drunk."

"You just butchered that sentence," Nell informed her with a quirk of her lips. "You're drunk."

Kensi Blye, master of denial. "No way," she stepped away from the table. "I'll be fine," she insisted.

"Even I'm not that stupid," Renko commented.

"Aren't we going to try to talk her out of it?" Deeks said, his eyes worriedly following his partner through the crowd.

"It's Kensi," Eric said as if Deeks was completely inept.

"She'll never listen," Nell finished Eric's thought.

"Besides," Sam chimed in. "The floor is padded. It's not like she's going to get hurt."

"Well... her ego might be a little bruised tomorrow morning," Callen said with a chuckle as he contemplated drinking the rest of his third beer despite already being drunk.

"She'll be fine," Hetty insisted.

::

Three contestants down and it was Kensi's turn. She climbed up easily enough and grabbed the rope with one hand and giving the signal to the control guy. The bull started bucking and Kensi tried her best, she stayed on for seven seconds before falling to the plushy blue mats. She was eight seconds from the lead score.

Deeks shook his head and went under the ropes to go and help her up. She sat up and pushed back her long dark wavy hair. She looked up at him with a drunken grin. "Did I win?"

"No. Not even close," he replied taking her hands in his and pulling her up. The mats were plushy and the momentum nearly caused the drunken partners to fall back down. Managing just barely to keep to their feet, he helped her from the ring.

"That was fun," Kensi told the group. "I was awesome."

Callen laughed. "You lost."

"But was no less awesome," Kensi insisted.

"You're taking the loss well," Nell commented leaning into Eric slightly in her drunkenness, trying to right herself she swayed in the opposite direction and ended up leaning into Renko. "Hi," she said to him.

"You're tiny," he commented like it was the first time he'd noticed her height. He chuckled. "How do you and Hetty keep up drinking?"

"Sheer will power," Nell responded.

"One more shot," Kensi said. "It's almost midnight, my birthday is almost over. One more shot."

The request seemed reasonable enough so the team lined up at the bar, Hetty and Nell getting up on the stools for a better vantage point. There was one last cheer of 'Happy birthday Kensi' and then shots were taken and the glasses were slammed back down on the bar.

"I am well and truly smashed," Renko noted out loud.

"Blasted," Eric agreed in his current state of drunkenness.

"Blitzed," Deeks said.

"Bombed," Nell nodded and then smiled. "Alliteration!"

"Hammered," Callen declared covering his head from the sudden ache. "Is it too early to feel hungover?"

"Hair of the dog?" Deeks offered and Callen flipped him the bird making the detective laugh.

"Completely and utterly inebriated," Hetty decided.

"Obliterated," Sam joined in.

"Wrecked," Kensi ended. "I'm wrecked."

"Sweetheart," the lonely patron beside her said smoothly as he leaned into her personal space. "I could wreck you for all other men," his eyebrows bounced in lewd suggestion.

Kensi's face pinched in disgust. "You're a creep."

He went to touch her, she quickly grabbed the offending hand and put it on the table while with her other hand she flipped the shot glass and slammed the open end on the back of his hand with as much force as she could. He cried out in pain, the big man sitting next to him standing.

"Not again," Callen muttered, but there was nothing that could stop the following events.

Deeks quickly went to keep the big man from touching his partner and Sam moved to help out. Nell fell off of her stool in her drunken state as she tried to get up and Eric bent down to help her out. Another man joining the fight nearly stepped on Nell and Renko pushed him back and the two of them quickly got into a fist fight.

"This can't be happening," Callen said to the bartender. The bartender wasn't paying him any mind though, as he was waving in the bouncers. "What do you put in the tequila here?" Callen asked as a bouncer lead them from the building. "This never happens when we go to other bars. It's just this one. It's your fault," he poked the bouncer in the chest and the bouncer gave him a hard shove outside and the door was slammed on the group.

The group stared at the closed door in silence as if trying to figure out what had just happened. "But it's my birthday," Kensi whispered sadly.

"It's after midnight," Eric replied bursting her birthday bubble.

"How do we always get thrown out of this place?" Renko asked with a laugh.

"It's the tequila," Callen replied. "They put something in the tequila."


End file.
